Lenten Disciplines

First Sunday in Lent, February 14, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you.
Romans 10:8b-13 The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.
Luke 4:1-13 It is written…it is written…it is said.

O God of hope, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We began our worship service this morning with a doubly long musical prayer and we will end with a doubly long musical sermon, so as we make our way through the middle, I want to offer you some very brief reminders and suggestions about how you might begin this season of Lent. I have three reminders and four suggestions for you. First reminder: the word Lent comes from the Middle English word for Spring. It is a word that embodies hope. (Especially on a cold day like today!) For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting longer and lighter. In churchy terms, Lent is the season when we get ready for Easter. So in a religious sense, too, Lent is a word that embodies hope. It’s not hope in something that may happen – it’s hope in something that has already happened and keeps happening. One of the amazing and wonderful truths of the Easter story, though, is that resurrection doesn’t care whether people are ready or not. Just like gravity doesn’t care whether we are ready or not – or whether we like it or not – or even whether we believe it or not.
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Exodus

Last Sunday after the Epiphany, February 7, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 34:29-35 Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:12 Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry we do not lose heart.

Luke 9:28-43a And all were astounded by the greatness of God.

O God of glory, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

One of the benefits for me of sharing the pulpit of Emmanuel Church with a Rabbi is that it challenges and changes the way I encounter Holy Scripture. My sensitivity to the need for “corrective lenses” is heightened. My desire to preach against the ways that the Christian Church has promoted supersessionist theology gets stronger every year. Supersessionism is very much like racism – it’s systemic, it’s oppressive, it’s often internalized, unexamined, and always wrong. It distorts our vision and injures our souls. Continue reading

Treasure

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, January 31, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 1:4-10 Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a… .

1 Corinthians 14:12b-20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.

Luke 4:21-30 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

O God of all, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

It’s come to my attention that Emmanuel Church’s efforts at radical welcome do not always succeed. I am not surprised. The idea of radical welcome is an eschatological hope (eschatological is a fancy word to describe talk about endings). Radical welcome is our eschatological vision, not a mission already and forever accomplished! Still, there are surely things that we can improve along our way to the end. What occurs to me is to talk about who is welcoming whom. We are claiming here at Emmanuel, that Jesus is welcoming everyone – we claim that at Emmanuel even without words when we worship in this sanctuary by virtue of our altar statue of Jesus, arms extended in a gesture of welcome that is carved in stone. [1] So first of all, we are boldly asserting the radical welcome of God in Jesus Christ. Beyond that wordless gesture, how do we enact radical welcome? Continue reading

I’m in. Are you?

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (C), January 24, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Do not be grieved; the joy of the Lord is your strength.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Luke 4:14-21 Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

O God of joy, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

This morning I want to begin by extending my own welcome to Bill Cruse, newly ordained priest, and I extend the congratulations and blessing from the Bishop of Massachusetts. And welcome to Kevin Neel, recently arrived from the west balcony! It’s always great to be in the same zip code as both of you! Thanks to Julian Bullitt who put in a huge amount of volunteer time this past week to work out wiring issues for the organ. Continue reading

Valued & Cared about (with audio)

Second Sunday after the Epiphany (C), January 17, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 62:1-5 Your land married for the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married – so shall your God rejoice in you.
1 Corinthians There are varieties of gifts.
John 2:1-11 First of his signs…revealed his glory…his disciples believed in him.

O God of justice, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

By now many of you have seen the news of the Anglican Communion. This past week the Primates of Anglican and Episcopal Churches around the world met in England to talk about marriage in the Church. While I don’t want to make light of the lives that are at stake with regard to treatment of LGBT people all over the world, it does strike me as a little funny that leaders of our particular expression of church have been arguing about marriage since King Henry VIII. As luck (or the Holy Spirit) would have it, we have three scripture readings teed up for our prayerful consideration on this Second Sunday after the Epiphany that have some things to say to us about discerning a way forward with generosity and humility, with compassion and hope. Continue reading

God’s Help

The Baptism of our Lord (C), January 10, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 43:1-7 I will.
Acts 8:14-17 They received the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:15-17; 21-22 You are my…beloved; with you I am well pleased.

O God of wonder, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Today is the day in the church when we remember Jesus’ baptism and have an opportunity to remember and renew baptismal vows. It’s not the usual way of remembering – because none of us (not even Luke) was around when Jesus was baptized, and those of us who were babies when we were baptized can’t recall what it was like. But we remember by telling the story again and in a few minutes we’ll remember by renewing baptismal promises. After church today, if you’re lucky enough to have someone around who was there for your baptism, ask them to tell you the stories of your baptism that they remember. And if you were old enough, when you were baptized, that you remember it, or if you know because you’ve been told, tell someone else the story of your baptism. If you’ve never gotten baptized, I invite you to take a moment and imagine getting baptized! Under what circumstances would you ever consider making a public commitment to cast your lot with the kind of Christians who baptize with water in the name of the Trinity and make promises to support one another? Are there any circumstances in which you would be willing to wade into this troubled water to witness to the power of redeeming love made manifest in Jesus? Continue reading

Against the Grain of Patriarchal Assumption

Second Sunday after Christmas (C), January 3, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 31:7-14 And my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord.

Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Matthew 2:1-12 (+13-15, 19-23) Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

O God of hope, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

The readings for the Second Sunday after Christmas are as full of treasures as the caravan of the magi. There is the beautiful promise of return from exile, a picture of restoration and redemption – a prediction that the people of God will finally be satisfied with the bounty of God. The passage from Ephesians predicts that the eyes of the heart of the congregation in Ephesus will be enlightened so that they will know the hope to which they have been called, so that they will know the riches of their glorious inheritance (which is hope), and what is the immeasurable greatness of the power of God (or Love) for those who believe. I’d add that the power of Love is immeasurably great whether or not they believe! Continue reading